When we opened it it tasted like Riesling, surprisingly like Riesling for something 117 years old. A little muted, but definitely Riesling. Spicy, with caramel notes, it was good; not the best Riesling I'd ever had but definitely far more whole than I had expected.
Our common experience with very old wine told us that it would not last long out of the bottle so we began to drink, not in a rush but definitely not as slowly as it turned out we should have. It probably took about ½ an hour for the six of us, Pichon, Ringwald, Helmet, Mispooz, Wife and I to finish the 750 ml bottle. And the truth is, as Pichon and I looked at each other across the last wee ounces, we realized rather than die a fast death it had opened. The caramels were now brulee, the spices were now anise and cinnamon, there were tropical fruit notes.
No wines last longer than those with residual sugar and good acidity. This was however an Auslese, so at the beginnings of the scale as far as these components go. Basically, if I ever have the chance to drink another 117 year old German white again I may decant it and then start, knowing I may need to shift gears in the middle to finish in 20 minutes or delay over 2 hours. As for old reds, I'm still going to consider it a pressure situation.
We chose this wine looking for a unique experience, and that we had. To be honest, in the end the juice was far better than I thought it would be which was a very pleasant surprise. If you have the chance definitely go for it, but take your sweet time.
Just wondering how you came upon this unusual bottle. At auction, a wine shop, or was it a gift? Do you know what kind of provenance it had? It sounds like you bought just one bottle.
Posted by: A | May 05, 2006 at 07:45 PM
Cru.
Posted by: augieland | May 05, 2006 at 11:03 PM